State of education

Morocco’s education sector is faced with two major issues: the high number of illiterate people and the high number of unemployed graduates. Although 4 million children are schooled (in a total population of 30 million) and 230 000 students are registered in the 11 universities in the country, it is estimated that half of persons more than 10 years old are illiterate. This state of education has prompted the implementation of a new policy that considers the fight against illiteracy and the promotion of informal education as chief priorities. This reform particularly targets girls and the rural population between 10 and 45 years of age. It is estimated that 34 per cent of men and 62 per cent of women are illiterate; these rates reach 63 per cent and 78 per cent respectively in rural areas.¹⁰ Morocco has committed to completely eradicating illiteracy by 2015.¹¹

Since 2002, schooling has been compulsory and free for all children aged 6 to 15, but there are still a number of obstacles that prevent some children from attending school and/or completing their studies, such as families’ financial difficulties linked to the cost of school stationery, transport and school meals.

In rural areas, the situation is more complex than in the urban areas: in the

‘douars’ and villages, which are widely dispersed, getting to school every day is

7 Ibid at 51.

8 A. Sen Un nouveau modèle économique (1999) Odile Jacob, Paris.

9 ONU Rapport mondial sur le développement humain (2007) at 27.

10 General information available on the website of the Ministère de l’Enseignement Superieur.

Available at http://www.enssup.gov.ma [Accessed 10 February 2010]. The statistics used by the Ministry are those provided by the Direction de la statistique, based on the Census of the Moroccan population.

11 Ministère des Finances et de la Privatisation ‘Tableau de bord social’ (2005). Available at http://

www.leconomiste.com/upload/document/social2272005.pdf [Accessed 25 July 2009].

a real problem. Quitting school is sometimes not a choice but rather an unavoidable reality.

Pre-school education

The net rate of schooling in 2003-2004 for 4- to 5-year-olds was only 50 per cent and the system generally serves boys better than girls and urban areas better than rural ones.¹²

Primary education

According to statistics provided by the Department of National Education in the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Professional Training and Scientific Research, the number of pupils from 6 to 11 years old attending public and private primary schools reached 1 810 898 in 2007-2008. If we compare this number to the total number of children in this age bracket according to the Census of 2004, the net rate of schooling would have been 83.7 per cent in 2004, up from 60.2 per cent in 1993-1994.¹³ A sustained improvement has thus been achieved in primary education, largely due to the schooling effort carried out in the previous decade. This has especially benefited girls. However, a large number of these children have not finished their primary school cycle due to problems linked essentially to poverty. In urban areas, the schooling rate for girls has nearly reached that of boys (89.8 per cent for girls and 91.2 per cent for boys).¹⁴ In a similar fashion, in rural areas, the discrepancy in schooling between boys and girls has decreased. The rate of participation for girls has more than doubled.¹⁵

High school education

At the high school level, an increase in the percentage of educated girls was achieved between 1990-1991 and 2003-2004.

In 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, the numbers of schooled children and the number of girls at the various levels, were as follows:

12 The mid-project evaluation of the implementation of the Education and Training Charter has identified this problem and has suggested new measures to reach the objective of full attendance, including through compulsion.

13 Statistics from the Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale. Available at http://www.men.gov.ma/

stat2008/ [Accessed 25 July 2009].

14 Besides the official data from the general Census, we also used the extrapolations carried out by the Haut Commissariat au Plan, the Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale and the Ministère des Finances as well as other departments. There are discrepancies in the data and these are due to the difference in the methods used by the various departments.

15 Supra note 5 at 73.

2006-07 2007-08

Pupils Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total

Primary

school 1 698 888 1 910 415 3 609 303 1 635 164 1 896 897 3 532 061 Number of

girls 818 168 856 590 1 674 758 788 203 859 401 1 647 604 Lower high

school 1 039 867 308 737 1 348 604 1 040 595 338 305 1 378 900 Number of

girls 495 534 109 213 604 747 496 369 120 695 617 064 Senior

high school

577 785 60 465 63 250 602 237 69 627 671 864

Number of

girls 287 052 22 806 309 858 302 003 27 237 329 240 Total 3 316 540 2 279 617 5 596 157 3 277 996 2 304 829 5 582 825 Number of

girls 1 600 754 988 609 2 589 363 1 586 575 1 007 333 2 593 908 Percentage

that are girls

48.3% 43.4% 46.3% 48.4% 43.7% 46.5%

Source: http://www.men.gov.ma/stat2008/ [Accessed 25 July 2009]

Regarding the rate of pupils remaining schooled to the end of high school, there is evidence of a greater capacity by girls to pursue their studies and to succeed:

55.2 per cent of urban female pupils and 22.7 per cent of rural female pupils finish the school cycle, whereas the completion rates for male pupils are respectively 44.8 per cent and 17.4 per cent.¹⁶

Higher education

Higher education has regressed in terms of the number of registered students in public universities as opposed to private institutions. This can be explained by the preference of students for private higher education institutions, not only for the perceived higher standard of study but also in terms of the nature of the training offered, which is seen as responding better to market demands. Public university training has gained a poor reputation from the ever-increasing numbers of unemployed public university graduates.

16 Ibid.

5.2 Doctrinal analysis